Programmed That Way
by Kurokoo
Summary: Kiku is a normal young man living in Tokyo, struggling to balance his job as an anime animator, and life as an otaku with a crappy computer, when a box shows up on his doorstep containing a robot by the name of Alfred. This strangely lifelike robot changes Kiku's life, and causes Kiku to wonder; what makes a person human? [[AmeriPan AU]]
1. Chapter 1

Kiku's fingers tapped on the keyboard at lightning-fast speed, glasses precariously set on the edge of his nose, yet he never dared to remove his fingers from the keyboard to fix them. The clock read 6 AM, and he vaguely wondered how bad his appearance was as he recalled not yet falling asleep. Still, his fingers clacked on, trying to finish one of the last few chapters of a fanfiction he had been working hard on.

Things were starting to wrap up in his story as the fans cried out for more on his blog. The main protagonist was finally getting over himself and realizing that what he truly wanted was to be with his boyfriend, yet his boyfriend was getting on a plane to go move halfway across the world with his uncle. Kiku was past seven thousand words at this point, in a part where the protagonist gets into a car accident on the way to the airport, but gets out and keeps running despite his injuries when-

_Word 2024 has stopped responding_

Wh-what?! No no no!

_Close the program?_

It was responding perfectly fine! How dare you stop working now?!

Still, the error box stayed up and had no signs of moving or recovering his unsaved work. With a shaking hand, he chose to close the program. Pulling the program back up, he found it hadn't recovered his work.

Now, under normal circumstances, Kiku may have reacted calmly by going to bed and treating himself to dango the next day, but that was seven thousand words and a night of work gone.

With an irritated screech, he slammed his chair back and stormed through the small apartment, knocking over three piles of manga on his way to the kitchen. Slamming cupboards and the fridge, he got himself a plate of sashimi and was just starting to stab at the raw fish with his chopsticks when there was a knock on his door.

His anger had partially deteriorated, but stayed evident as he put the plate down and strode over to the door, opening it. He was going to snap at whoever was there as though they had awoken him from his sleep, but stopped when he found himself in front of a towering box.

"Excuse me," said a delivery man, and Kiku got out of the way as the box was wheeled into his living room. "You're Honda Kiku, correct?"

"Ah…" Kiku's anger had disappeared to make way for curiosity. "Yes, that is me."

"I have a package from a Mr Wang Yao," The delivery man informed him. Of course it was from Kiku's brother. Only his brother would have the money enough for something this large. "Please sign here…"

After signing the paperwork and thanking the man softly, Kiku was left alone with the large box- crate rather. A note on the side was in his brother's handwriting.

_I heard you needed a new computer. Love gēge_

A computer? What computer was this big? And how was he supposed to open it?!

Kiku spent the next ten minutes struggling to get the thing open. He wasn't the strongest person in the world, and force didn't seem to help. Kiku was almost ready to give up and find a crowbar in the morning (or, afternoon, whenever he awoke), when he noticed his authentic katana sitting on the wall. It wasn't much use just sitting there, and it was made to fight opponents much more formidable than this wooden crate (though it was quite a formidable opponent to Kiku), so…

Within a few moments, he was hacking at the box somewhat clumsily, but stopped when he realized he could easily destroy something inside that way. So instead, he opted to pry open one side with the sword.

The side came falling down with a thud, and with it, a wave of packing peanuts.

Grumbling about how he'd have to clean it all up, Kiku set the sword back in its place, and carefully waded through the sea of white in order to get a good look at what it was.

Kiku froze when he saw a man. But not just any man. He was a very handsome man, standing tall and firm. His body was nicely toned and tanned (thankfully his… privates… were covered with boxers), and his face looked slightly youthful, with straight blonde locks parted to the side, except for one piece of hair that stuck almost straight up.

Kiku's face was a deep crimson as he took this all in, trying to understand why his brother had sent him a man in a box, when he noticed the lines going around this man's neck, down his torso, and around his arms and elbows and knees. His joints…. It was a robot.

Still, there was no denying Kiku felt embarrassed to be around such a handsome robot when Kiku himself was disheveled with his bloodshot eyes (from staring at the computer much too long) and messy hair and clothes.

Inching a bit closer, he now wondered how he would go about getting this robot out, when he noticed a tag wrapped around the robot's wrist, reading, "Hello! My name is Alfred!"

"Alfred?" Kiku asked curiously. It seemed to fit, somehow.

At his voice, there was a whirring, causing Kiku to stumble back in shock while the robot twitched and shifted, coming to life before the Japanese mans eyes.

The gentle hum of a motor played somewhere inside the robots body and his eyes, the most beautiful sky blue Kiku had ever seen, opened and shifted like a camera lens, until they locked on Kiku himself, who was somewhere between frightened and shocked.

When it stepped forwards, Kiku tried to step back, but instead found himself tripping over his coffee table. In a moment, Alfred was next to him, catching him before he could hit the ground.

Now holding Kiku in his arms, face a bit too close, a grin spread across Alfred's face.

"Hi there!" Alfred said in a slightly robotic voice, which was heavily accented in an American tone.

"H… hi…" Kiku responded, heart pounding and face again pure red. Something told him he wasn't going to get any sleep that night.

* * *

**A/N: This is only a sort of… introduction. The following chapters will be longer, I assure you. This idea is inspired heavily on Chobits, but please don't expect all the details to follow that story. Also, the name is one that I struggled with for a while, so I apologize for the strangeness of it. Anyways, this is a story I've wanted to start for a while, and though I had hoped to finish my other (Ruler of the Future) first, I couldn't help at least getting one chapter out. It may be a bit before I get to chapter two, or I may just dive into it. Who knows. Either way, I hope you enjoy! This is going to be a mix of fluff and sadness, but nothing sexual. I'm sorry, I'm not good at writing that! I'll update as soon as I can! Thank you for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: All right, so my first chapter seemed to get a pretty quick, positive response, so I decided I might as well keep going while the inspiration is fresh. Besides, my Japan Shimeji keeps sitting by the Word program. Sometimes I wonder…. Anyways, here's chapter 2!**

* * *

There was a long silence as Kiku waited for the robot to do something else. Yet, he stayed right there, holding him in an almost horizontal position, grin never faltering. His eyes were looking at Kiku's face, taking in his features in an almost curious, excited way.

"U… Um…" Kiku said, shifting in the strong hold. "Could you… let me go?"

"Oh!" Alfred actually seemed like he had gotten distracted. So lifelike… He straightened Kiku up and stepped back, grinning all the while and scratching the back of his head sheepishly. "Sorry 'bout that! I just got excited to see my new owner! You're my first, so I got a little distracted!"

"I see…." Kiku said slowly, taking a moment to dust off his clothes and gather himself. Whoever had created Alfred must have put a lot of time into his personality and actions. It was incredible how well he mirrored human quirks. "Um…. You're my first… robot… as well."

He guessed he said the right thing, for Alfred seemed to buzz with excitement, laughing a very loud, almost annoying laugh. "Then we're both learning, huh?"

"I guess so…" Kiku put his knuckle to his chin and regarded Alfred carefully. He would need to get better clothing than that… While Kiku didn't mind the view, it wasn't appropriate at all. Yet, Kiku was sure nothing in his closet would fit.

"Oh!" Alfred seemed to remember something. "Right. Introductions."

Kiku was about to ask what Alfred was saying, when Alfred suddenly went rigid and his eyes dimmed. When he spoke, it was so forced and planned, Kiku almost became concerned. He had to keep reminding himself that Alfred was, after all, a robot. It was all a part of his programming.

"Hello, I am Alfred, one of the hundreds of thousands of robots in the AI program at Kirkland Industries in the United Kingdom," Alfred said. "I have been programmed with my own personality and thought process. If at any time you decide you would like a different AI installed, you may contact the company through the email written on the back of my neck. You will then be asked to remove the chip via the console on my back, and send it to the company. The exchange of AI's is free of charge, other than shipping and handling."

Subtly, Kiku thought he saw Alfred's finger twitch and his face, at that time a neutral expression, shift into a slight frown as he said this.

"My purpose will be to learn from you and be a companion to you," Alfred continued. "I will take the time to learn your interests and study them. I also have the ability to be plugged in and used as a normal computer, as well as make calls, send text messages, access wifi, and many other functions. For a full list of my capabilities, please check your AI Handbook."

Handbook? Kiku realized he hadn't searched for one. Looking down at the packing peanuts, he began to shuffle through them, until his hand hit the cardboard surface of a hardcover book. When he picked it up, he grunted at the weight. It was likely bigger than any textbook Kiku had ever had. Setting it on the coffee table, he looked at it in silence. He'd probably skim through it later…

"At night, I will normally plug myself in to recharge, however, if under certain circumstances I am unable to recharge, there is a port at the back of my head allowing access to a wire and adapter which can plug into almost any outlet. At your command, I may also tap into my reserve power supply if I am needed for an emergency call or to be moved to an outlet. This supply will normally last an average of ten minutes.

"If there are any more questions, you may either consult the AI Handbook, or tell me to go into help mode. Have a nice day."

With that, Alfred's frame relaxed and his eyes brightened once more. His smile returned, but something was slightly different about it. Almost forced. Despite knowing he was a robot, Kiku had to speak up.

"Is something wrong?" Kiku asked. To his surprise, Alfred's smile faltered a bit, and he shifted on his feet, eyes tracing the room around them as he avoided Kiku's gaze. How could he possibly be so realistic?

"I um…" Alfred started, then looked down almost guiltily. "I was just wondering if you wanted a new AI chip?"

Alfred didn't look at Kiku, as the Japanese man started to understand. Though a robot, Alfred still seemed to be frightened that Kiku might want to get rid of him. That Kiku might not like him. Despite his hesitance and skepticism that this robot was truly feeling those feelings, Kiku took his hand reassuringly.

"No, I don't," Kiku said, feeling a bit awkward at comforting a robot. "You're a wonderful AI. I would never want to get rid of you."

Bursting into another grin, Alfred scooped him into a big hug, causing Kiku to tense.

"That makes me really happy!" Alfred said, swinging him around a bit.

"A-ah yes!" Kiku said, eyes wide. "B-but pl-please put m-me down!"

"Oh! Sorry!" Alfred said, putting Kiku down carefully. "Just got a bit excited is all!"

"I can see that…" Kiku murmured, fixing his clothes again. There was a long pause as Alfred looked expectantly at Kiku. Waiting for him to do something. "What?"

Alfred jumped at being called out on his staring, then chuckled sheepishly, shifting from foot to foot. "Sorry!" He apologized again. "I was just wondering what you wanted me to call you!"

"Huh?" Kiku seemed surprised, but it was understandable; he had yet to tell Alfred his name. "Um… Well I'm Honda Kiku… That's the Japanese formatting, so my first name is Kiku, and family name is Honda…" Alfred had probably already guessed that, but the blonde nodded anyways.

"All right!" Alfred said. "So what do you want to be called?"

"Um…" Kiku hadn't really thought about it, and tapped his chin in thought. Any Japanese honorifics would be customary, but… he doubted it would fit with the American accent. It never sounded natural. Plus, he wouldn't be able to decide how formal Alfred should be; should he be called Senpai? Or maybe Honda-Sama? Or just Honda-San?

"There are many options," Alfred said, filling the silence. "It can either be something informal, like a first name, or something very formal, like Master or Lord."

"N-no!" Kiku said quickly, face reddening again as many other fanfictions came to mind. Master and Lord were not terms Kiku would be comfortable with at all. "You can just call me Mr. Honda." It was strange to him, to use such titles as Mr when he was Japanese, but nothing else would quite fit, and he wasn't comfortable enough with this robot to be called simply Kiku. Besides, he was familiar enough with Western culture to know that it showed respect. His brother made a living in America, after all. He had visited several times and, while their social status was lacking the depth the Japanese had, Mr was something he had seen quite often for those of higher status.

"Got it, Mr. Honda!" Alfred said with his grin always present. It sounded right, and Kiku knew he had made the right choice with the name. "Now, what do you want to do first?"

"Um…" Sleep, Kiku thought. Yet, he wanted to test out a few things with Alfred first. To get somewhat used to him. His eyes trailed over to his old computer. "Well… I had been working on this story for a while, but the Word program stopped working… I don't know if you can recover it, but…"

"No problem!" Alfred said with a nod, happy to be doing something. "I can take care of that for you!"

Without hesitating, the man trotted over to the computer and plopped himself down in front of the tower. Reaching around to the back of his head, he opened a hatch and pulled out a cord with a usb connector, which he used to plug into the computer. A few moments of silence passed while the computers processed each other, then Alfred closed his eyes and Kiku's monitor came to life.

Things were shifted around as Alfred searched, finally finding the Word program and opening it. Kiku couldn't be sure of what he was doing, but before long, a loading bar came up. As something loaded, the paint program was pulled up and a picture started being drawn.

It was very crudely drawn, and Kiku wasn't sure at first what it was, but when it was finished, Kiku saw himself reflected back, as well as, in sloppy handwriting; _Hi Mr. Honda!_

A smile spread across Kiku's face despite himself, and he settled down to continue eating his sashimi, though glanced over every once in a while to see the screen drawing Alfred and Kiku together, and then superheroes that Kiku recognized as Spiderman, Batman, and, especially, Superman.

"You like superheroes?" Kiku asked, somewhat surprised. He knew Alfred had his own personality, but he didn't think Alfred had his own interests too.

"Yup!" Alfred said, eyes staying closed. "When I was built, I was allowed to spend time in the factory while I was waiting to be bought and shipped out. I discovered superheroes while searching through the internet, and I fell in love with them! I wish I could be one!"

"Robots have wishes?" Kiku asked before he could stop himself. He flinched as Alfred's smile faltered again, regretting his words immediately.

"Sort of…" Alfred's smile was a bit sad now. "I know that I feel like this is a wish, but it's just a part of my programming. Please don't feel like my wishes are anything to take seriously."

Kiku felt a pang of guilt hit his chest as he heard this. Alfred was a program, yes, but it was a program given the ability to understand it is a program. It was then Kiku decided to stop thinking of Alfred as only a robot. Alfred's feelings may have only been coding, but that coding made him hurt, just like Kiku's guilt did at that moment.

"Alfred-kun…" Kiku said softly, stepping over to him and sitting in front of him. Kun seemed like the appropriate honorific, he decided. "That was rude of me to say without thinking, and I apologize greatly. If you feel like you want to be a superhero, then you do, no matter if it's coding or a human brain function."

Alfred opened one eye slowly, then smiled softly. He didn't move, and Kiku guessed that he couldn't when he was working on Kiku's computer like that, but the smile was genuine.

"Thank you, Mr. Honda," Alfred said, having his worries put to rest by Kiku's words.

The loading bar finally filled, and Kiku found the document he had been working on staring back at him, all seven thousand words. Alfred removed himself from the computer and stood up, pulling the wire back into his head and closing the hatch.

"There we go!" He said, now back to being happy and excitable. "I reset the computer to just before the program crashed. I'd save it though, just in case the program crashes again. Either way, it's copied to the clipboard in case."

"Th-thank you, Alfred-kun!" Kiku said, quickly saving before the document could fail again "I was worried I would have to type it all again."

"It's no problem!" He said. "It was pretty easy!"

Kiku was going to thank him a few more times, when he noticed a sentence was different. Rewritten?

"Ah.." Kiku stopped. "This sentence wasn't like this? Did something happen when you were going back?"

Kiku began to worry he'd have to go through it all to fix any glitches that may have arisen, but Alfred actually seemed bashful at the mention of the changed sentence.

"W-well," Alfred said, grinning shyly, "I was going through it and I changed a few things here and there. Just where the wording didn't make much sense… I hope you don't mind!"

Kiku's face flushed scarlet. Did that mean Alfred had read it?! Oh dear, there were some parts that involved… Oh how embarrassing.

"I-I'm sorry!" Alfred said quickly, worried the redness meant Kiku was angry.

"N-no!" Kiku said, shaking his head. "It's fine! I just didn't expect… y-you to read it…."

"W-well I… I read a few sentences while I was loading it, and it was really good, so I ended up reading it all," Alfred shrugged. "I can change it all back if you want!"

"It's not that! I just don't know about that part… On the second page…"

"Oh!" Now Alfred seemed to be embarrassed himself. "I just… skimmed over that part…. I didn't really read much of it."

"O-of course. It's fine if you read it! I mean… I put it on the internet for others to read it so…"

There was a long silence after that, where the pair just stood there, looking anywhere but at each other.

"Well, my battery is running low," Alfred said quickly.

"Of course! I'm sure it must have been a… draining day for you," Kiku responded, happy for the excuse, even though he doubted Alfred's battery could have run out in that last hour or so. "I need to go to sleep anyways."

"Yeah, 'course! It's late… erh… early? So yeah…. I'll go find an outlet now."

Alfred hurried away, as Kiku pulled out his futon and turned off the light, crawling into it by the gray morning sun streaming through the windows. Still, he caught the blue light from Alfred's eyes shining onto the wall.

"Good ni-" Kiku started, but stopped himself, noticing the sun again. "Er…. Good morning, Alfred-kun."

Alfred laughed softly as he plugged himself in. "Good morning, Mr. Honda." Then Alfred faded into sleep mode, his eyes a dull green to show that he was, indeed, fully charged.

With a sigh and a look at Alfred's hunched position in the corner, Kiku gave into sleep as well.


	3. Chapter 3

"Mr. Honda!" A voice whispered in Kiku's ear.

Kiku groaned and rolled over. It was much too early for this…

"Mr. Honda," the voice whispered again. "Where's your fire extinguisher?"

"My wha….?" Kiku mumbled, opening one eye slowly, before both snapped open. Oh god something was burning. "What?!"

Kiku sat bolt upright and looked around. No fire in the living room but… there appeared to be dark clouds coming from the kitchen. Above him crouched a very handsome stranger- wait, no, this was Alfred, his robot. Memories of the time before he went to sleep flooded back to him. He groaned again.

"I, uh… tried to make break-" Alfred glanced at the clock, which now read 1 PM. "Well, lunch? Anyways, do you have a fire extinguisher?"

"Dear God…." Kiku mumbled, and pulled himself up, stumbling to the kitchen, still half-asleep. A skillet on the stove was spewing out orange and red flames, causing the Japanese man to jump back, now fully awake. "Dear God!"

Scrambling for the fire extinguisher under the sink, he began spraying the fire rather furiously, even after the fire had disappeared, a somewhat panicked look on his face and his teeth gritted firmly in his mouth.

After a few minutes, he finally stopped, putting the fire extinguisher down and leaning against the counter, rubbing his eyes. That was… an eventful way to start the morning.

"Sorry…" Came the quiet voice of Alfred from behind the doorway. Glancing up, Kiku saw the robot halfway hidden by the door frame, looking rather dejected. There was no way Kiku could get upset at him…

"It's… fine," Kiku said, straightening and stretching out his back. "We can simply go out for food. Though…" He looked at Alfred, again noting that the man was in only boxers. "We must get you some more… appropriate clothing…"

"Huh?" Alfred glanced down at himself, now noticing that he was only in boxers. If the robot could have blushed, he probably would have. "O-oh… Y-yeah… that's…. probably a good idea…"

Disposing of what Kiku guessed was eggs, and rubbing his eyes again, Kiku walked back into his living room and searched through his clothes in his closet. Too small… too small…

He finally came upon a robe that was several sizes big. It was supposed to be a one-size-fits-all robe, but it was still too big for Kiku. It was somewhat odd for an outing, but it was all Alfred could wear to the clothing store, and when the man put it on, it fit well enough.

Grabbing his own clothes, he went to take his shirt off, when he remembered Alfred. He froze and glanced over his shoulder. Alfred stared back at him with oblivious innocence that he was preparing to watch Kiku change.

"Could you… wait for me outside?" He asked quietly. Alfred seemed confused at why Kiku wanted to be alone, but voiced no complaint as he stepped outside.

Kiku dressed himself carefully. Despite what he acted like on the outside, he was very self-conscious of the way he looked and dressed. He always struggled to find what made him look nice, but not stand out and seem self-centered. It took him a while, but he finally settled on a simple shirt, dress pants, and a warm jacket (The leaves were turning orange and already the fall chill was sweeping over Japan).

Stepping outside, he was surprised to see Alfred waving to someone, though when Kiku looked, the person was already gone. He caught only the glimpse of a dirty-blonde head of some child disappearing around the corner.

"Who was that?" he asked in confusion, looking at Alfred and leading the way to the elevator in his apartment complex.

"I don't know," Alfred admitted, hands in the oversized pockets of the robe. "It was a child. He was waving this little gun around saying 'Come with me! You're my prisoner! You gotta come with me!', and I wanted to play along, but I told him I was waiting for you."

"You could have played a little, Alfred-kun…" Kiku said softly. He couldn't help but feel a bit of guilt at ruining some child's fun.

"Well if I wasn't there when you came you would've been confused!" Alfred argued, before shrugging. "Anyways, he got all nervous after that. I bet he's not used to being told no. He was shaking like a leaf. Maybe he has a condition?"

"Maybe…" Kiku agreed, though couldn't help but find the child strange. With dirty-blonde hair, he was sure to stand out as a foreigner, yet Kiku couldn't recall seeing any foreign couples living in that building; let alone a child.

Deciding his lack of knowledge of his neighbors was a result of his desire to stay inside long periods of time, he put it out of his mind.

Still, he had the oddest notion that he was being watched all the way to the clothing store.

* * *

Sitting outside the changing room, Kiku tried his best to look normal, but people had noticed the strange man coming in with the small Japanese. Personal Robots weren't something unknown; after all, when Kirkland Industries came out with them for the first time, it was world-wide news. They were incredibly expensive, but it was such a rare idea. So far, no company came close to repeating it, and Arthur Kirkland himself assured that the secret was kept safe.

Still, they were incredibly hard to tell from normal people sometimes. Alfred's eyes glowed with a faint blue light, but during the day, it was hard to tell, and with the large robe on, Alfred's joints were all but hidden. That left Kiku in an awkward position, so he would explain quietly to anyone they stopped next to that cast him a curious glance.

"This is my personal robot," he'd say quietly, causing their curious looks to change to ones of shock and awe.

Alfred seemed to enjoy the attention, too. When he heard Kiku explain at a crossing light or on the subway, he'd look at the people who were suddenly taken with the idea they were standing next to a true Kirkland Robot, and flash a _very _well-practiced smile. Kiku actually blushed every time, and was glad that Alfred and whomever he had told were too preoccupied to notice. He almost wanted to tell Alfred how much he looked like a hero with that smile on.

Across the street, in a coffee shop, his deep brown eyes met with the green ones of a bespectacled man at the coffee shop across the street, snapping Kiku out of his thoughts. His hair was straight, and his fingers typed furiously on the keyboard of his laptop, but when they connected eyes, his fingers froze.

Kiku had hoped it was simply coincidence, but one rarely makes true eye contact with someone else through the glass of a store window and across a busy street. The fact that the eye contact, proving Kiku knew the man was there, threw the man off so much that he had stopped all he was doing in an attempt to sip his coffee and "act natural", wasn't helping Kiku's hopes. Something was certainly not right.

Starting to stand slowly, wondering if he should get a better view, the changing room door opened.

He glanced once at Alfred, back at the now-abandoned table of the coffee shop, and quickly back to Alfred, the odd moment now completely out of Kiku's mind.

Alfred's shirt was a deep blue, like his eyes, that dipped down to expose his collar bone and some of the skin beneath, while his jacket was a nice light grey hoodie, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, exposing the darker underside. His pants were black jeans, while his shoes were some simple white and blue high-top sneakers, the laces untied (which Kiku would scold him on later).

He put his hands in his pockets and swayed from heel to toe, looking nervously at Kiku for his reaction.

"Well?" he asked. "How do I look?"

"You…" Kiku started, trying to find his voice. "You look… Well… I mean, good… And… yes, that will do… I mean, you look… nice… Not that I'm suggesting you look exceptionally nice- I mean, you do! But not in any way that may suggest…." Kiku trailed off, his face as red as a tomato at this point. "You look nice."

"Thank you?" Alfred said, grin plastered on his face, but it wasn't in a rude way, but rather a sort of endearing way. "Then let's get some other clothes and go!"

"Yes…" Kiku said, but couldn't help finding himself staring at Alfred when Alfred wasn't looking. It stayed like that the entire time they shopped at that store, and admittedly, several times after as well.

When they had bought several outfits, and some pajamas upon Alfred's shy request (despite he didn't even sleep in a bed), they walked out, Alfred carrying most of the bags.

"Now what?" Alfred asked curiously, clearly hoping for their day together to continue.

"Well…" Kiku said, looking at his watch. It was around 2 now…"We have time… and I'm a bit hungry, so we can get some food and visit the Shinjuku Gyoen to eat it?"

"The what?" Alfred asked, and Kiku paused. Of course… Alfred hadn't seen the Shinjuku Gardens before…

"It's a beautiful, large garden," he said. "You would need a whole day to explore every bit of it, but it's certainly a great place… I think you'll enjoy it."

Making a quick turn in their path, they instead found the Subway heading to that part of the large city, stopping by a small restaurant and getting some food to go (Kiku got teriyaki chicken on rice, as well as a reminder that Alfred was a robot and didn't need food), and headed along down a rather wide sidewalk. Down this street, the amount of trees on the right side became more and more abundant, until the gates came into view.

The gates were rather disappointing, and Kiku could feel Alfred start to tense a bit as he quickly lowered his expectations. They were old and had a deserted sort of feel to them, with a rusty coin booth where Kiku inserted 400 yen (he didn't bother fighting with the machine that Alfred was a robot, and therefore didn't need a ticket), and got his ticket and admission into the park.

The initial path led through a nice, forest-like area, as though on a nature preserve, and Alfred started to enjoy the tall trees and the fresh air (could Alfred enjoy the fresh air?).

It wasn't until they finally got through the maze of trees and to the beautiful center pond that Alfred fully understood why they had gone there.

The pond rippled softly, as the little islands covered in flowers and greenery of all sorts dotted its surface. A cherry blossom tree leaned over and tickled the water from behind a low fence that barely passed as a fence at all. The white, stone bridges went from island to island, allowing a path over the body of water, while little frogs jumped in from the rocky shores of the island, preferring to find their own way across. Over the distance, trees could be seen in colors of green, pink, and especially for the season of fall, oranges and reds. Alfred was rendered speechless.

With a soft smile, Kiku took Alfred's arm to guide him over the old-style bridges and to a small, shaded spot beneath a somewhat low (but not too low that they couldn't walk under it) tree, whose branches and leaves fanned out instead of up, as though providing an umbrella for them, and that was just what they used it for.

Finding a nice spot off the cobblestone path, Kiku ate his food with his chopsticks in silence, finding no reason to disrupt the beautiful scenery. He could see people walk by, mostly couples and the elderly, but there seemed to be serenity to this place as the frogs croaked and splashed, and the koi swam beneath the deep green-blue of the water. Birds sang many different songs somewhere in the distance, and he could smell, surprisingly not flowers, but simply life. The flowers were not bred to be potent, they were bred to live and grow as flowers in their completely natural beauty.

"This is… amazing…" Alfred whispered. Looking over at him, Kiku was surprised to find Alfred wiping at completely real tears in his eyes. "I never thought I'd see something like this… I figured the pictures I looked up in my head were as great, if not better, to the real thing… I can't…"

"Are you okay?" Kiku asked, completely concerned as he leaned closer to him.

"I'm fine!" He assured quickly, waving a hand. "The tears aren't anything to worry about. It's not like I'm malfunctioning and leaking or something. It's just so… beautiful!"

"It is…" Kiku whispered, but didn't take his eyes from Alfred. He was surprisingly close to the robot, and the unbalance in his leaning was causing him to tilt even closer.

Kiku's lips were getting closer and closer to Alfred's soft, slightly trembling pink ones. Their eyes were locked tightly together. Everything seemed still.

But then, Alfred broke the gaze and looked away, as Kiku fell forwards and his face instead connected with Alfred's chest. There was a dead silence as Kiku found himself pressed against Alfred's chest. He briefly caught the sound of a motor whirring inside, before Kiku pulled back and bowed deeply.

"I-I'm very sorry, Alfred-kun!" Kiku stuttered, not looking up at the other, who was just as uncomfortable and embarrassed. "That was… wrong of me…"

"N-no!" Alfred said quickly. "It was an accident!" Alfred was giving Kiku a chance to pretend their near-kiss didn't happen. To Kiku's surprise, Alfred, who seemed very open and forwards, was holding back something.

"Y-yes…" Kiku said, grateful, but unable to hide from himself the deep disappointment. "An accident…"

Finishing the meal in silence, Kiku was forced to hold onto the box until they exited the gardens, for the lack of trashcans there. Quite the silence filled the air on the entire way back to the subway, and the apartment, Kiku preoccupied himself with noting everything around him while on their walk down the street, towards home.

From the tall buildings, to the bright lights as the sun set and darkness fell, to the children laughing as they passed, and that blonde, bespectacled man again.

Whipping around to take a second look, Kiku for a moment couldn't believe he would see that man again. However, he guessed it must have only been his imagination; in the spot where he believed the man had been stood another, shorter man with brown, slightly long wavy hair, and a peaceful disposition. Strange…

Still, the silence stayed all through the rest of that night; to the forced conversations, to the silence while Kiku put on anime, to the awkward "good nights" while Kiku slid into his futon and Alfred, who had changed into his pajama's just for the sake of sitting in the corner and charging, did just that.

His life was certainly becoming stranger and stranger…

* * *

**A/N: Story time! So a few months ago I actually got the privilege of going to Japan! The Shinjuku gardens is a place I've actually gone to~ And let me tell you; if you ever find yourself in Tokyo, Japan, you NEED TO GO THERE!**

**So I was in South Korea for my brother's wedding (he married a nice Korean lady that was his tour guide when he was living in Australia, but visiting Korea. He dated her for three days, she took a chance in following him to Australia, one thing led to another, now they're married). And since we were there, and my dad knew I loved Japan, we took a second week to our trip and went to Japan. To sum up that leg of our trip in one word; surprising. **

**To explain without explaining, I had received some bad news that was going to cause a two day shortage of our Japan trip. It kinda bummed us out, and it felt at that point like the trip was over. Plus, without a tour guide who knew about the area and culture, as well as our language, we were on our own (and we were on our second week so it was starting to get overwhelming)**

**We went to Hiroshima before we got the news (and visited the museum for the bombings in WW2. It was horrible and emotional, but eye-opening nonetheless…), then were in Kyoto, which was after we got the news. We were feeling pretty disappointed, but I wanted to visit an authentic Japanese shrine, so I convinced my dad to go to one down the street of our hostel. He was expecting the same ones we saw everywhere in that city, I was expecting one of those larger ones with the bells that you ring and clap your hands for (which we did see there). However, let's just say that my expectations, and his expectations put together, weren't even 1/10****th**** of what we got the privilege of seeing. I don't want to spoil much more because that scenery is gonna show up later in the fanfiction. **

**Anyways, we were feeling better, but not quite as happy as we could have been when we got to Tokyo; especially when we found out that the Ghibli Museum was closed for the month we were there. (Before I continue, I'd like to say that while in the Tokyo Train Station, we were having trouble getting money from the ATM but this kind man who owned a fancy Italian restaurant called the Acorn, not only offered to give us 4,000 yen (which we refused and instead traded 2,000 for 20$) but ALSO gave us a free meal, fancy cookies, fine wine, and some scented sticks for, literally, no reason other than he was an awesome man. He was just like "hey is this your bag? Here's 4,000 yen and have some food at this fancy restaurant I own, free of charge". Okay, maybe not quite like that, but it's pretty much the summary. Even when we got to the hotel we were still shaking our heads about it. Hell, I was terrified in there thinking he was a drunken man under some delusion that he owned the place and we were going to get charged on the way out).**

**ANYWAYS, so we were sitting there, really bummed that it wasn't turning out like we hoped, when I googled stuff to do in Tokyo, Japan, and ran across the gardens. We walked down the street, got lunch at a nice place, I believe firmly that I saw Hayao Miyazaki outside it (I saw him standing there smoking and talking with this fancy guy in a business suit. When I saw him, I thought he looked familiar (and even thought jokingly "that looks like Miyazaki"), but I hadn't really seen Miyazaki's picture so I didn't realize until I got home and saw it and recognized those glasses). **

**The entrance looked just as I described it in the fanfic, with it being old and disappointing, and again we had lowered expectations. Until we got IN the gardens and were like "HOLY CRAP CAN WE LIVE HERE?!"**

**EVERYTHING was beautiful! It had English style gardens and French style gardens and Chinese buildings and Japanese gardens (which are the best in my opinion) and I got to try some authentic green tea with some Canadians in an actual tea ceremony, and I decided that green tea tastes like liquefied grass but damn was the ceremony cool!**

**Long story short; Japan is awesome and went beyond my expectations because Japan's cool like that. Yeah. Also it's almost 10 AM, I haven't slept since 2 PM yesterday, but I got random inspiration so I'm going to sleep now. **


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